Painkiller could be behind ADHD epidemic

The common painkiller paracetamol could be an unsuspected factor in the ADHD (attention-deficit, hyperactive disorder) epidemic in our children.

Its active ingredient, acetaminophen, which is also in other painkillers such as Tylenol, triples the risk of ADHD if the mother takes it when she’s pregnant.

Around 70 percent of women take the painkiller during pregnancy, and they do so because acetaminophen is one of the few drugs that is deemed by America’s drug regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, to be safe for pregnant women.

But researchers from the University of Washington School of Medicine say the painkiller affects the fetus’s neurodevelopment.  It increases the risk of ADHD and autism by around 3.15 times, but the risk increases six-fold in girls.

The researchers tracked 307 pregnant women and the health of their children until they reached the age of 10.  Nine percent of children whose mothers didn’t take the painkiller developed ADHD, but the rate rose to 18 percent in the painkiller group.  Acetaminophen metabolites were detected in 20 percent of maternal plasma samples, and the children were 3.15 times more likely to develop ADHD or autism.

Acetaminophen painkillers have been prescribed to pregnant women for decades, and are considered a safer option than ibuprofen to manage fever and pain.  But when assessing its suitability for pregnant women, researchers never evaluated the longterm impact of the drug on neurodevelopment.

The latest findings echo those of Norwegian researchers who also saw a link between acetaminophen painkillers and ADHD.

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